Morgana Robinson

Reeves and Mortimer mature like a fine wine. They somehow manage to out-do themselves with every programme they create, and building on the foundations of shows like Big Night Out and Shooting Stars, that truly is some feat. Series one of House of Fools was a comical violation of the senses, in the most enjoyable way imaginable. A fool would assume it couldn’t get any better. But it has.

This second series has shown the group really cement themselves as a unit, if a rather dysfunctional one, which gives the comedy so much more meaning and vigour, and the addition of Julie’s Bistro downstairs provides an interesting new dynamic. Rachel, Erik’s straight-talking Norwegian girlfriend, is a new character and is played by Ellie White. She fits into the group effortlessly and the possibility of Rachel just becoming a reflection of Erik’s character is successfully avoided, as she is the centre point of jokes from her very first appearance (such as her fear of non-flat things, which Bob inadvertently brings to the surface).

BBC/Christopher Baines

Dan Skinner continues to bring elements of his hysterically funny stand up character Angelos Epithemiou to his performance as Vic’s younger brother, Bosh, and similarly, Matt Berry approaches the character of Beef in his typical smooth-voiced and flamboyant style. These talented actors have certainly worked out who they are in terms of performance and this is expertly picked up on by Reeves and Mortimer in the character development and sharp script writing. And then we have Julie. Julie is absolutely magnificent. She is bewildering, extravagant and outrageous yet has the depth of a wholly decent character at the same time. Morgana Robinson’s performances truly are a sight to behold, with her enthusiastic slapstick and unpredictable line delivery, particularly regarding her temporarily tiny hands.

From the strange interpretations of celebrities like Bruce Forsyth and Alistair McGowan, to the arrival of The Butcher Boys, a dance trio made up of Tom Davis, Tony Way and Romesh Ranganathan, to the appearances of Sally Phillips, Simon Farnaby and Rufus Jones, amongst others, it can’t be denied that this programme is diverse. As well as the new energy in the cast, the fact House of Fools is recorded in front of a live audience adds something extra special to the performance, especially as they are seen at the beginning and end of episodes when the camera pans out. Fans of Vic and Bob do not sound like your average laughter track; they are boisterous, enthusiastic and clearly having a bloody enjoyable time. This homemade feel is enhanced by the decision not to remove the frequent corpses and mistakes made by the cast, which often highlight how preposterous the plot is and remind us that a great deal of the script is semi-improvised.

BBC/Christopher Baines

House of Fools is a microcosm of insanity and childishness. When Beef announces that his black cape is “made of the nighttime,” nobody bats an eyelid. When Vic proposes to save Bob’s underwear from a giant moth by shooting it dead, Bob dismissively sighs: “Vic, I don’t want my panties covered in shot.” It always has been and always will be an absolute joy watching these two fantastic comedy minds working together, and seeing them have so much fun in the process. Vic and Bob have unlocked a door to a phenomenally wacky and unsettlingly funny parallel universe, and I want to stay there forever.

Charlie Brooker’s Weekly Wipe may just be the smoothest comedy programme on television. It is also one of the bleakest satirical programmes I have ever seen, but I am well and truly addicted.

Here we have a programme that makes me hate so many aspects of the world, but then laugh at them and regain control. Charlie Brooker expertly exposes everything that is wrong with humanity but also shows that we’re not the only ones who are disheartened by it all. Stick with it, and you can find the positive message.

With comment on topical media-related things as well as politics, this programme doesn’t spare many people from the mockery. Jake Yapp regularly relays various programmes like The One Show and The Voice in a matter of seconds, flawlessly encapsulating their most irritating elements and imitating an array of presenters and celebrities in the process. Brooker also scrutinises over phenomena like Eastenders, Broadchurch and Fifty Shades of Grey, aided by comments from Philomena Cunk and Barry Shitpeas.

A common downfall that I have found with shows like Weekly Wipe is the quality and originality of the sketches used to break up the larger proportion of denser comedy. However, this programme is truly unique in its creation of innovative and hilarious weekly sketches, from the wonderful Philomena Cunk and her “Moments of Wonder”, to the arrival of Morgana Robinson. Robinson (House of Fools) proved a fantastic addition to the Weekly Wipe team with a scarily faultless YouTuber-parody and humorous impersonations of Russell Brand. Yet again, the great minds behind this show have proven such specific observational skills as well as, in Morgana’s case, a talent for impressions (which was already common knowledge for those who watched Very Important People, I’m sure).

Brooker is undeniably a very intelligent man and has a mysterious ability to articulate what millions of us seem to be feeling, even if we hadn’t realise it yet. Weekly Wipe is a perfect example of a programme taking control over political matters that we can’t seem to change in a valiant attempt to regain power, by laughing at it. And there are many laughs indeed.

Big School is a British Sitcom that began last year and was highly successful and incredibly popular. It has a common set up, being set in a regular secondary school, but the two main roles are filled by the nation’s sweethearts, and comedy legends, Catherine Tate and David Walliams. The double act is striking because it blends two of the biggest comic actors from when I was very young, and I wouldn’t necessarily have thought they could work so well together. But, God, do they.

We all know that Walliams is a brilliant character actor from his memorable performances in Little Britain, but here he plays a character I have never seen him attempt before. Socially inept and shockingly childish, Mr Church is a Chemistry teacher at Greybridge School. Upon the arrival of the new French teacher, Miss Postern (Tate), Church falls head over heels in love and makes it his mission to sweep her off her feet.

Tate and Walliams’ personalities bounce off each other fluently and with great ease. They compliment one another with their quick, abrasive dialogue and clearly find each other utterly hilarious. Their obvious compatibility makes this programme a very easy and enjoyable one to watch, with the help of Philip Glenister’s role of PE teacher, Mr Gunn. Trevor Gunn is painfully dense but also very likeable. He has a fantastic screen presence, and a certain vulnerability that makes him very endearing.

Another stand out performance is that of Frances de la Tour, who plays the role of Ms Baron, the abhorrent but hysterically funny headmistress of Greybridge. Her character is similar to that of Michelle Gomez’s Sue White inGreen Wingbut a little less insane, and significantly more hateful. Morgana Robinson pleasantly surprised us all with a guest appearance in one episode as Miss Postern’s school ‘friend’ turned novelist who seems somewhat more successful than the French teacher herself, much to Postern’s disgust.

The only criticism I have of this show regards a very minor detail, and that is the role of the school children at Greybridge. Individually they are all wonderful actors, of course, they wouldn’t be there otherwise, but the way the school acts as a collective seems abnormal to me- though this may be because I spend most of my life at school. And then again, Greybridge isn’t an entirely normal school, so maybe that’s just me being too rational: something that Big School definitely is not! You will have to make your own judgements in that case, and that can only be done by catching up with the whole series on BBC iPlayer.

A wonderful thing happened on BBC iPlayer on June the 1st: six comedy shorts were released exclusively online with input from many of the most brilliant people in comedy right now. This kind of thing is so vital for keeping comedy on television and online alive as we need to keep pushing the boundaries of comedy in order to keep it successful and influential.

Each comedy short is around five minutes long and they are all completely stand alone episodes (though it would be great if someone could pick them up for series in the future). My favourites were Micky Flanagan’s Foxageddon, Matt Berry in Lone Wolf and Bob Mortimer and Frankie Boyle’s Cookery Show mainly because of the comedians they involved, but I also thought Morgana Robinson’s impressions Channel M were wonderful, as always (her Amy Child impression is spot on).

I can imagine Micky Flanagan’s episode evolving into some kind of Lead Balloon–esque series in the near future as Flanagan’s comic delivery is very unique, which you’ll know if you’ve seen any of his stand up. His character here has the same comic voice as his stand up which I thought really aided the episode because there was less ground work that needed to be done to set the scene. The episode was funny because it is entirely stupid, which I guess is just refreshing for an audience who are used to satire etc. Also, the fact it featured Kerry Godliman (Derek) was a brilliant thing as I think she is very talented.

Bob Mortimer is a hero of mine and I was very looking forward to seeing what he could produce in a five minute time frame. I wasn’t disappointed; it was a whimsical, nonsensical cookery world and it was a beauty to watch, as Mortimer always is. I also noted that Bob was involved in almost all of the other comedy shorts: sometimes as producer and sometimes as writer and this proves what a clever, hardworking genius he is. It was also interesting to see Frankie Boyle playing a slightly different role, as a television presenter who hates peas:

“What is it, Frankie, is it the peas, or the thought that the knife might be on the brink of extinction?”

I can picture Frankie working on some kind of childrens’ show in the future and before watching this, I would never have thought so (for obvious reasons). I think Boyle and Mortimer are both incredible comedic talents, with an interesting partnership on screen and really hope something comes from this comedy short, as with many of the other episodes, but especially the cookery show.

I also love every show Matt Berry is involved with as the man is undeniably a fabulous comedic actor. Lone Wolf is an extremely funny mini-documentary that follows a wolf pack as they hunt their next meal but the voiceover is Berry-style: foulmouthed and hilarious. Again, I can see this making a fantastic feature in a sketch show or even a show on its own.

You can watch all the comedy shorts on BBC iPlayer here and I definitely recommend you do!